Mountain West Football Previews: Fresno State seeks to find balance

Blend of offense, defense makes Bulldogs favorite in the West

Davante Adams (15) topped 100 catches and 1,300 yards as a freshman last season and returns as the top target for Fresno State senior quarterback Derek Carr.
(Sam Noblett)

Quarterbacks love to play in an offensive system. Put them in a league where the talent level on that side of the ball forces an almost frenzied pace, and they're thrilled.

Derek Carr is no different. He was happy last year when Fresno State installed a spread offense under first-year coach Tim DeRuyter, one where Carr was able to put his talents even more on display.

Now add in the fact the 2013 season represents the first time in his career he's able to play in the same system for consecutive years, allowing him to grow in it instead of learning something new and, well, he feels the sky is the limit.

But the best part of it all is quite clear to the senior.

"I get excited, but I know how great our defense is and how many turnovers we create, so I get excited in the sense they get to play our defense and I don't have to play them," he said. "That can't be too fun to throw against, and I know for a fact it's not too fun to throw against."

DeRuyter brought with him a 4-3 set, which was foreign to the players and gave the coach a bit of reason for pause. But the Bulldogs took to the set, finishing second in the nation in pass defense and seventh in the nation in turnover margin. The Bulldogs intercepted 22 passes and scooped up 13 fumbles on their way to a 9-4 record and a third of the Mountain West title.

Advertisement

"Our kids really bought into our mantra of taking the ball away, and (defensive coordinator) Nick (Toth's) got them playing with an excitement that maybe they weren't playing with that same level of fanaticism before. Anytime you can pressure teams and cause turnovers, kids like doing that and having fun, and hopefully we'll be able to expand that more this year."

As with Carr, DeRuyter feels the group should be even better in year two of the system, even with the loss of All-American safety Phillip Thomas. One player won't fill those shoes, but with eight starters returning to the unit, Derron Smith -- the preseason pick for defensive player of the year -- feels they should be able to absorb that loss.

"Once we started going through the season, our confidence just started building with the turnovers and the stops we were getting," said Smith, who had 79 tackles and six interceptions, one shy of what Thomas had. "It just builds up. If you can trust the man next to you, you can do your job without trying to do somebody else's job. Now our confidence and trust is at an all-time high, and we're going to add more to our defense. We didn't even put in the whole defensive playbook. We're going to add more to it, and we're just going to keep getting better."

Which should lead to some rather interesting practices. Carr, the preseason offensive pick for player of the year, expects his unit to be even more high octane than the group that produced 37.92 points per game to lead the Mountain West.

Carr threw for 4,104 yards and 37 touchdowns, and many of those throws were targeted for Davante Adams, who finished with 102 catches for 1,312 yards and 14 scores as a freshman. Isaiah Burse returns with 57 catches, and tight end Marcel Jensen (20 catches) gives Carr a big target, as well.

The Bulldogs will have to replace running back Robbie Rouse, who gained 1,490 yards in 2012, and no returner on the roster had more than 41 carries last year.

"I feel like going against our offense, we're seeing the best quarterback in the nation and the best receiving group as a whole in the nation," Smith said. "That's only going to make us better. The weaknesses we have, they're going to exploit them. That makes us watch film and correct the mistakes we make."

Who to watch: Davante Adams. He had no problem making a name for himself as a freshman, catching 102 passes for 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and with speed, he is a handful for league cornerbacks.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.